Mele’s Musings

Everyone Is Talking About Mobile Social Networking

You thought marketing on social networks was hard enough – how do you connect with consumers on the smallest screens?

photo: bizreport.com

Article excerpt:  Big opportunities. Big challenges. eMarketer forecasts that mobile social networking will grow from 82 million users in 2007 to over 800 million worldwide by 2012.  “This population will comprise current online social networkers who are extending their digital lives to mobile as well as a growing number of mobile-only social networkers,” said John du Pre Gauntt, eMarketer senior analyst and co-author of the new report, Mobile Social Networks. “Early reports suggest strong user demand for mobile social networks.”  For example, MySpace recorded over 7 million unique visitors to MySpace Mobile in the US in the six months since launch. “It wasn’t until we rolled out m.myspace.com that we got a sense of how powerful demand was for MySpace on cell phones,” Brandon Lucas, senior director of mobile business development for MySpace, told eMarketer.
the rest: emarketer.com

Musing:  Although relatively small in the US right now, we should expect that mobile social networking will continue to grow, particularly as new phones and new connectivity (Mi-Max, etc.) begin to grow.  The challenge for marketers continues to be how to authentically communicate with people on social networks.  What makes mobile extra challenging is that mobile social is even more personal than “regular” social.  What is most likely to happen in mobile social is that users will update their profiles in real time depending on where they are – which means that there will be little room for advertisers to send ads.  Instead, marketers will have to figure out how to add meaning and functionality to mobile social applications and activities.